Court Appointed Questioner

In November 2020 the Stronger Communities Legislation Amendment (Domestic Violence) Act 2020 received assent to amend the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 to introduce a new protection for domestic violence complainants by prohibiting the cross examination of these witnesses by an self-represented defendant.

As a result of the new legislation self-represented defendants accused of domestic violence can no longer directly question the complainant in domestic violence proceedings or related apprehended violence order proceedings.  The changes commenced on 1 September 2021, and, since then, their questions have been relayed by a court appointed questioner (CAQ), who either appears in court or via audio visual link (AVL).